Prayer matters

Prayer

COMMUNITY

New donation centre opens

CHESTERFIELD

THE former Lidl store on Foljambe Road has been renovated to provide a large donation centre for The Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) and a new worship space for the corps.

The donation centre, which offers a range of affordable and good quality pre-loved furniture, clothes and bicycles, opened in December. The worship space for the corps will open soon.

Corps officers Captains Elizabeth and Carl Di-Palma, pictured, said that the building will provide an ‘opportunity to meet people and support the local community’.

Lee Foster, the donation centre manager, said: ‘The main difference between a charity shop and a donation centre is the range of goods available and volume of donations we are able to accept ... there is parking space to help manoeuvre bigger items, such as furniture.’

Other features at the centre include a community refrigerator and cupboard, providing free food for people who need it, and a community space that will give visitors the opportunity to sit and enjoy a cup of tea once coronavirus restrictions are lifted. – AR

INTERNATIONAL

Army film wins advertising award

FINLAND

A SHORT promotional film commissioned by The Salvation Army was named 2020’s Best Cinema Advertisement of the Year in a competition organised by the country’s largest cinema chain, Finnkino.

Help People: Love of Life – a largely pro bono production by Helsinki-based ad agency Make It Simple – was voted for by thousands of Finnish moviegoers, with many describing the film as ‘touching’. The advert shows moments of a couple’s life from youth through to old age. Featuring joyful scenes of marriage and a daughter’s birth, it also portrays the difficulties of poor health and concludes with one of the couple remaining on their own. The dialogue-free film simply reminds viewers that ‘no one must be left alone’.

‘The film captured the topical issue of loneliness and longing for love experienced by older people when there is no one to hold their hand,’ said Anne Fredriksson, head of marketing and corporate relations for The Salvation Army in Finland.

The film has also proved to be highly effective as a fundraising tool, generating considerable income to support the Army’s work with older people in the country. – AR Watch the film at youtu.be/HBWBxFmCGOk MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER –LIVING IN GOD’S COVENANT by Lieut-Colonel Jayne Roberts (Secretary for Spiritual Life Development)

SATURDAY 9 JANUARY – EXODUS 19:5 These were the words spoken directly to Moses confirming God’s choice of Israel to be his holy people, his ‘treasured possession’. How could they fail to hear and obey every word from God who loved and valued them? How could they disobey the Lord who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and given them laws to observe governing every part of life? Yet time and again they failed, turned to other gods and neglected the commandments. Time and again God was merciful and restored his people as they bowed in repentance. Is there a need for personal repentance this day as you spend time with God? Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal this to you as you turn your mind and heart to him.

SUNDAY 10 JANUARY The theme of Living in God’s Covenant might prompt some Salvationists to look again at their soldier’s covenant. The opening paragraph declares: ‘Having accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord … I now by God’s grace enter into a sacred covenant.’ A person being enrolled as a soldier is usually invited to sign their covenant in a public ceremony, having declared their intention to uphold Christian standards and values in every area of life. Yet all Christians live out their promises to God in daily life with its challenges and temptations. Let us remember that our God is gracious and forgiving. Give thanks to him today.

MONDAY 11 JANUARY January is often a month when days can seem dark and dreary. God has covenanted to us that winter will give way to spring and summer, but his love and faithfulness are unchanging. May we experience his presence and power today. ‘Dear Lord, I lift my heart to thee,/ My helplessness I own;/ The way before I cannot see,/ I dare not walk alone./ More clearly would I realise/ Thy presence and thy power,/ Not only under summer skies,/ But in the darkest hour’ (SASB 489).

TUESDAY 12 JANUARY ‘Not only when I sense thee near/ Art thou most surely nigh,/ Nor hast thou, Lord, a quicker ear/ Because my faith is high./ My changing moods do not control/ Thy covenanted aid;/ Thou hast the guarding of my soul,/ And I am not afraid’ (SASB 489). Let the truth of these words, so beautifully expressed by John Izzard, strengthen you today. May your soul find its resting place in God, our rock and redeemer.

WEDNESDAY 13 JANUARY In the time of Nathan the prophet, God made a further unconditional covenant. This would not depend upon human obedience but on God’s sovereign activity and faithfulness. It began as a promise that a permanent home would be provided for Israel and that David’s son, Solomon, would be blessed and build the Temple. The covenant expands into the divine promise to establish an everlasting kingdom through the lineage of King David. Eventually his line of succession would result in the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Having now glimpsed four of the Old Testament covenants, take time to reflect on what you have learnt about God through his promises to his people. Focus on prayers of gratitude today.

THURSDAY 14 JANUARY The Gospel writers record the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the one who came to establish God’s new covenant with all humankind. Yet long before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Jeremiah speaks of the new covenant: ‘The days are coming … when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel … I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’ (31:31 and 33). What a beautiful picture of hope and restoration this is, based in a personal relationship with God! Pray for this transforming hope to bless your family and friends this day. Pray for those you long to know the Lord for themselves.

FRIDAY 15 JANUARY On the evening before his death on the cross, Jesus spoke to his disciples of the new covenant. As they broke bread and drank wine in the upper room, Christ told them: ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’ (Luke 22:20). Through the sacrificial death of Jesus, Son of God, we can know forgiveness of sins and the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit. The new covenant means that we can call God ‘Abba, Father’. Thank you, Lord, for your amazing love and grace. Father God, may we live in the truth of the new covenant, as your redeemed people.